Monday, July 29, 2013

It's the first time that I've attempted opening a hub motor of any sort and realized that it isn't easy. First of all, the motor is essentially and fundamentally, a very powerful magnet. Unlike a regular motor, which has the axle as the rotor and the wheel as the stator, a hub motor wheel section is the rotor and the axle section is the stator.

I tried to pry it open the motor with some minimal tools (a couple of chisels and a small screwdriver) and that failed miserably. The magnets inside hold the motor together very tightly. I'll need to pick up a 3 jaw puller to separate the windings from the casing.

The challenge: Opening this motor.

I was able to unscrew all the screws and get it open enough to slip in some tie-wraps to keep it open.

Wider view

I then used two chisels to try to pry it open without any luck.

I was able to pry it open a bit but then realised the case was held together with a circlip.

I then tried to open the hub battery and ran into a different issue. I need a circlip remover to open the front battery hub. I only had a pair of needle nose pliers...

Friday, July 26, 2013

A fellow ebiker sent me his non-functioning E+ electronics for me to play with! I can't believe his generosity!

He sent everything that was for the E+ bike. The front battery hub, the rear motor, the console, the ebrakes, and all of the various cables. His bike stopped working after the motor started making some odd noises. Separate from that, the console also died. He replaced the console so there is now an extra non-functioning one. I opened the huge package last night and took a lot of photos. Here are some with a link to all of them if you want to see them...

I know what I'll be doing this weekend. Expect more photos of the front battery hub and rear motor opened up. I can't wait to get a look at the insides of an E+ system!

The big box arrives with both front and rear wheels inside.

The two wheels extracted.

The front battery hub wheel.

The rear motor hub wheel with the freewheel and axle removed.

Closer shot of the front battery hub.

Closer shot of the rear motor wheel on the freewheel side

Front battery hub showing the connector side of the wheel

Rear motor hub showing the disc brake mount and the connectors

The two connectors on the rear motor wheel.

The wheels are truly very wide. They measure just over 1.5" wide on the outside.

They measure just over 1.25" on the inside.

The freewheel cassette. I need to reattach this somehow!

The connectors from the ??? (I'm not sure where these go!)

The rat's nest of twist lock wires! I will definitely need to make these stronger and permanent once I get it working.

Here's the data connector going to the rat's nest.

Electrical wire nuts for quick connections.

6-way Delphi connector

6-2ay Delphi connector other view.

eBrakes and throttle connectors.

Power connector using 2 way Delphi Metripacks

A 6-way Delphi connector using only 4 of the wires.

The non-functioning console with the bad LCD panel.

The small connectors for the console.

The clear window to the console from the inside showing the ribbon connector to the switches

Top view of the console window with switches.

The inside of the bottom half of the console.

The outside of the bottom half of the console showing the bike mount.

The circuit board of the console. Top view.

The circuitboard of the console. Bottom view.

Top view of the broken LCD panel.

Bottom view of the broken LCD.

Bike mount for the console.

The working console. Upside down.

The connector end of the console.

The bottom view of the console showing the connectors and bike mount.

The schematic.

The thumb throttle.

Thumb throttle showing a big "E" and "Maxi" under it.

Closer view of ebrake lever showing the wired switch.

3-way Delphi connector going into motor.

3-way Delphi connector.

Axle through-hole on the freewheel side.

Cabling going into motor.

Detail of the cover for the battery hub.

Detail of the spoke holes on the battery hub.

There are these unused openings on the battery hub at 120° angles from each other. Wonder what they are?

Another detail of the battery spokes and cover screws.

Vent holes and keyed axle of the front hub.

Detail of the front axle on the connector side.

Slight surface scratches.

Valve opening in the wide front rim.

I'll do a detailed take-apart of the front battery and rear motor shortly. Hopefully this weekend if all goes well.